WBRU, the independent radio station run primarily by Brown students, has agreed to sell the rights to its terrestrial FM signal for $5.63 million in a deal announced Tuesday, WBRU spokesperson Art Norwalk confirmed in an email to the Herald.
Norwalk confirmed that the buyer will be the Educational Media Foundation, a California-based nonprofit which runs primarily Christian contemporary radio stations.
Proceeds from the sale will be held in an endowment to finance the station’s advanced media workshop, an entity that will see new programming in news, music and community service offered by student staff of the station, Norwalk wrote.
The station had been losing money for the last few years, with profits tapering off after 2012. In 2015, the station lost $54,207.
WBRU may still be interested in acquiring a smaller FM station, Norwalk said. This would allow the station's 360 Broadcast in Sound to reach individuals incarcerated at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, he added.
Programming by the station will continue in two 24/7 online streams of old and yet-to-be-developed content. The station’s terrestrial broadcast will cease at 11:59 pm Aug. 31, and the Educational Media Foundation’s programming will begin immediately thereafter.
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